Nigeria’s movie industry popularly known as Nollywood has seen its fair share of screen divas. Who can forget when Regina Askia, Liz Benson, Eucharia Anunobi and others ruled the screen. Then came Omotola and Genevieve then more recently, Ini Edo, Uche Jombo, Chioma Chukwuka, Oge Okoye, Monalisa Chinda have been shining in the spotlight. See previous post HERE

Well, a new crop of screen divas are emerging and they are taking no prisoners. These are no overnight successes, most of them have been acting for a couple of years but are now eching towards stardom.
Sassy and confident, these ladies are heading for the top.

Rukky Sanda

Ever since Rukayat Akinsanya aka Rukky Sanda entered the Nigerian movie industry in 2004, there has been lots of buzz surrounding her. Rukky has a lot going for her – acting talent, a bold dress sense and tons of confidence. This graduate of Banking & Finance from the Lagos State University allegedly dated the Koko Master, D’Banj but she’s moved on and doing great! She is very social and well loved by Nollywood colleagues and can at events with close friends, actresses, Uche Jombo and Susan Peters. She is also multi-talented and has produced and co-written several new movies.

Tonto Dikeh

At only 24, actress, Tonto Dikeh has achieved a lot. She is an undergraduate of Petrochemical Engineering at the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Rivers State and is pursuing her movie career. She entered the movie industry after she finished as 1st runner-up on the ‘Next Top Movie Star’ reality TV show, since then her career has been progressing from strength to strength. Tonto dated producer Don Jazzy but that hasnt distracted her from her career. With roles in movies like Rush Hour, Final Hour, Fatal Mistake, Family Disgrace, Plain Truth, Miss Maradonna, Divine Grace and Tea or Coffee, she is proving herself as a capable actress.

Ebube Nwagbo

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Mass Communications graduate Ebube Nwagbo started her acting career in 2003. Her big break came when she acted alongside Jim Iyke and Pete Edochie in the blockbuster, Arrested By Love. Since then she has been featured in over 50 movies and has enjoyed consistent press coverage on her movie career, dress sense and personal life including her past & current relationships with Ogbonna Kanu (Brother of Kanu Nwankwo) and Kingsley Okonkwo aka KC of the musical duo KC Presh.

Mercy Johnson

Mercy Johnson is often described as a ‘controversial’ actress because of continuous speculation on her personal life. This press-shy indigene of Kogi State burst into the scene a few years ago and has achieved high levels of success. With lead roles in several top-selling movies, Mercy has done well for herself.

Uche Elendu

Newlywed Uche Elendu Igweanyiba is one of the most popular rising actresses especially in Eastern Nigeria where she is based. Uche is a graduate of International Relations from the Imo State University, she is also a musician with 3 commerically released albums. Her career initially kicked off in 2001 but she took a hiatus and came back in 2004. Since then she has been featured in prominent roles in over 20 movies. In February this year, she got married to one of her fans and been relishing her new role as a wife as well as working on various movie sets.

What do you think of the present state of Nollywood and how do these rising stars size up with the already established superstars?